Editorial: Time for statewise ban on texting while driving

Thursday

Jan 29, 2009 at 12:01 AMJan 29, 2009 at 8:44 AM

Monroe County is the latest county in the state to adopt a ban on text messaging while driving. That’s a step in the right direction, but it would make more sense to ban the dangerous practice statewide than piecemeal.

A recent Zogby poll had a statistic that should make all drivers shudder: 66 percent of those surveyed, ages 18 to 24, said they send and receive text messages on their cell phones while driving.

Texting is a major driver distraction, which, studies show, is almost as dangerous as drunken driving. While it was never determined whether it played a role in the June 2007 crash that claimed the lives of five Fairport High School graduates, cell phone records show text messages were sent to and from the driver’s phone in the seconds before their sport utility vehicle collided with a tractor-trailer.

It will soon be illegal to send or receive text messages while driving in Monroe County. The County Legislature recently adopted a texting-while-driving ban, joining other New York counties including Westchester and Suffolk.

That’s admirable.

But adopting legislation county by county is like providing an unfinished quilt when a blanket is needed. The state Legislature needs to adopt a statewide ban on texting and driving. Ontario County lawmakers — instead of adding their own patch to the quilt — passed a resolution last year urging the state to act on the measure.

Simply put, it’s confusing to have bans only in certain counties. Imagine driving along the state Thruway — when can you text and when can’t you? And how would you know?

The Monroe County texting ban would be superseded if a state law is adopted before it takes effect this summer. But considering how slowly the wheels turn in Albany, that seems unlikely.

Perinton state Sen. James Alesi sponsored a bill that passed his house in 2007 but didn’t make it through the Assembly. Both houses now have before them several proposals pertaining to texting and driving. Alesi’s bill, introduced earlier this month and now being eyed by the Transportation Committee, would not only prohibit “the writing, sending or reading of text-based communication” while driving, it would create a cell phone safety component in pre-licensing courses.

Opponents of such legislation say it would be difficult to enforce. They’re right, but there is a psychological factor to laws; they tend to encourage lawfulness. Consider the percentage of drivers who wouldn’t think of turning the key without buckling up their seat belts now (close to 90 percent), as compared to before a state law requiring seat belt use went into effect in 1984 (below 20 percent). A law against cell-phone use while driving is slowly reducing the number of drivers who use hand-held devices behind the wheel.

It is likely that, over time, a ban on texting would likewise increase awareness and inhibit the practice among drivers. And down the road, that can only save lives.

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